Brake Controller. Cannot find the brake light wires. Help!

[bobsblackbeauty]

Update on the brake controller: I took the car to the Ford dealer. They confirmed that my truck was an early production WITHOUT ANY BRAKE LIGHT WIRING. But, they kept their word on the price: $551 installed with the Ford part which includes a 2 year warranty.

They had to run new wiring to the bumper and asked me about the 12v power pin and I told them I would never use it anyhow. They also DID NOT use the 3rd high mounted light as the brake source so they told me that I should just turn off the adaptive cruise as it won't actuate the brakes on the trailer.

I love the truck but this is ridiculous. How can the trailer lighting work, but never ran the wires to the brake area? Picking up the truck in a couple of hours and I will test it out on my tractor hauling trailer.

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[bobsblackbeauty]

UPDATE! I spoke at length with the electrical guy who was impressively educated. He said all the Rangers on the lot including the ones without the tow package had the 4 wires. He said he spent 2 hours trying to figure it out an finally realized the wires simply weren't there. I asked him about the wires at the plug and he said they go 1/2 the length of the truck and plug into another plug there. But this plug going forward didn't have any wires matching up with the 12V or the Brake wires. Just not there.
He ran a new 12V wire from the battery and used the Ford controller tapping into the 3rd high up light which he said was pretty easy to get to just pulling the headliner down slightly.
They kept their word and charged me the same price quoted.
The button is just under and to the left of the steering wheel where Ford said to mount it. 2 year warranty from Ford.
Works with the adaptive cruise as I tested it out this afternoon. Very satisfied!

 

[Big Blue]

M

Update on the brake controller: I took the car to the Ford dealer. They confirmed that my truck was an early production WITHOUT ANY BRAKE LIGHT WIRING. But, they kept their word on the price: $551 installed with the Ford part which includes a 2 year warranty.

They had to run new wiring to the bumper and asked me about the 12v power pin and I told them I would never use it anyhow. They also DID NOT use the 3rd high mounted light as the brake source so they told me that I should just turn off the adaptive cruise as it won't actuate the brakes on the trailer.

I love the truck but this is ridiculous. How can the trailer lighting work, but never ran the wires to the brake area? Picking up the truck in a couple of hours and I will test it out on my tractor hauling trailer.

Glad your dealer set you up and charged you only his quoted price. I am concerned where he tied n the brake signal though. The harness for the highlighted stop light is part of the controller kit. Without that tie in it won't work with the automatic emergency braking as well as ACC. He's right you really shouldn't tow with the ACC, but the AEB system is kind of important.

I would have had him run the 12V wire also, as long as he offered. You may not use it now, but someday you may want to pull a travel trailer and want it. Or the next guy. Did he also include a 7 pin connector and receiver hitch as part of it too. If you didn't have a tow package you wouldn't have had them.

I am more concerned about the brake signal, because he did not install as per Ford instructions. Might affect warranty.

 

[bobsblackbeauty]

M

Glad your dealer set you up and charged you only his quoted price. I am concerned where he tied n the brake signal though. The harness for the highlighted stop light is part of the controller kit. Without that tie in it won't work with the automatic emergency braking as well as ACC. He's right you really shouldn't tow with the ACC, but the AEB system is kind of important.

I would have had him run the 12V wire also, as long as he offered. You may not use it now, but someday you may want to pull a travel trailer and want it. Or the next guy. Did he also include a 7 pin connector and receiver hitch as part of it too. If you didn't have a tow package you wouldn't have had them.

I am more concerned about the brake signal, because he did not install as per Ford instructions. Might affect warranty.

Check my last entry. Everything went good. Thanks.

 

[Jfleming]

Glad to hear it is working.

Just for reference, below is how Ford wires in those four wires in case anyone else finds that they are MIA, they can see how to wire it in on their own if they want to copy the original design.

 

[Lunchbox88]

Glad to hear it is working.

Just for reference, below is how Ford wires in those four wires in case anyone else finds that they are MIA, they can see how to wire it in on their own if they want to copy the original design.

Where is this schematic from? Are there wiring diagrams available somewhere?

 

[bobsblackbeauty]

I don't think that diagram is right. It doesn't show the signal coming from the high brake light. I don't see how taking it off the brake switch will allow the adaptive cruise and emergency braking to work. I spoke with the installer at some length about the install. He said the Ford instructions had him taking the brake light signal from the high mounted brake light.

 

[Jake]

I don't think that diagram is right. It doesn't show the signal coming from the high brake light. I don't see how taking it off the brake switch will allow the adaptive cruise and emergency braking to work. I spoke with the installer at some length about the install. He said the Ford instructions had him taking the brake light signal from the high mounted brake light.

I believe the diagram is showing the path for the 4 wires that are supposed to be taped up under the dash. Not showing the wiring for the brake controller itself. If I remember correctly the Ford brake controller only uses the yellow and blue wires since the harness has a ground wire with ring terminal that gets installed on a stud and the signal comes from the 3rd brake light. So the violet and white wires are unused.

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